Holiday Storm
by MagCat
Summary: AU: When Ash Ketchum stumbles upon his former fiancée and her group of friends in a cave on Christmas Eve he tries to woo his way back into her life but he encounters a problem: his former rival turned best friend is now engaged to the woman of his dreams


**Summary:** AU: When Ash Ketchum stumbles upon his former fiancée and her group of friends in a cave on Christmas Eve he tries to woo his way back into her life but he encounters a problem: his former rival turned best friend is now engaged to the woman of his dreams. What will happen? Rating for language. This is the sequel to _Holiday Respite _from last year. **Couples:** Gary/Misty, Ash/Misty (one-sided), Brock/Duplica, Drew/May/Brendan, Ritchie/Casey, Tracey/Melody, and more.

**Disclaimer: **As soon as I get my certificate of ownership saying I own _Pokémon_ then I'll tell you, but as of now it's not mine!!

"…": Characters talking

'…': Characters thinking to themselves

"…": Pokédex speaking or recounting information to trainers

(…): Extra facts about the story

((…)): My opinions

**A/N Notes: **Hey! Here is holiday fic. number two. There are two ways to view this; you can see this as completely independent or as the sequel to the fic. _Holiday Respite_. I personally like the suggestion that it's the sequel to my oneshot _Holiday Respite_ from last year and I hope you enjoy this just as much as I enjoyed writing this! This is my first time focusing on Ash; if you've read any of my other Pokémon work then you'll know that I love Gary much more but I really wanted to see how well I could write Ash… Anyway, Happy Holidays to everyone from MagCat!

**_Holiday Storm_**

**_9:30 PM, December 24, 2006; Five miles from Mahogany Town, near the Lake of Rage, Johto Region_**

Twenty-two year old Ash Ketchum tried to peer through the gap his arms were making, black eyes squinting while streams of snow tried to block his eyesight. Ash had been training at the Lake of Rage for close to a month and had started back to Mahogany Town to restock and heal his Pokémon, who had badgered Ash for thirty-six straight hours to take a break. Ash had finally agreed, albeit reluctantly as he wanted to train some more but knew that he and his Pokémon needed a break. Right now, however, Ash was cursing his luck; it was almost ten o'clock in the evening and he was nowhere near his final destination and to top it all off he was stuck in a raging snowstorm.

"Pikachu, are you sure we're almost to Mahogany Town?" Ash gritted out to his buddy, who had taken refuge inside Ash's black jacket and had his nose buried as far down into the warm material as he could manage, his black eyes able to see a few feet further ahead then his trainer's.

"Pika Pikachu! (I'm sure of it; keep going straight ahead!)" Pikachu replied, his voice muffled by the jacket. Ash cursed, making a mental note to purchase a PokéNav when he returned to Mahogany Town in case another emergency like this one would arise in the future.

Ash suddenly stumbled, falling to his knees as he cursed his luck; he had tripped over a rock and now his jeans were getting even more soaked than they had been previously. Ash looked up and paled; it seemed luck had abandoned him again as he found out that he hadn't tripped over a rock. Rather, he had tripped over a Pokémon and said Pokémon—now known to be an angry Geodude—was glaring at him. Geodude glared at the offending human and, deciding on a course of action, reared back his arm and, taking aim, socked Ash right in the stomach, much to the protest of Pikachu, who had been trying to apologize for the incident.

Ash cursed as he felt the air leave his lungs and, clenching his stomach, tried to regain his breath, thinking how glad he was that the Geodude seemed to be at a low level. However, unlike Ash, Pikachu was severely pissed off and charged at the rock and ground Pokémon, his tail glowing silver as he prepared an Iron Tail attack. However, the electrical rodent drew up short when he heard Ash say, "Leave him alone, Pikachu. I'd have done the same thing if someone had tripped over me and didn't apologize right away. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Geodude."

Geodude eyed Ash warily, trying to determine whether or not the trainer in front of him was being sincere. After a few minutes Geodude grunted, signaling to Ash and Pikachu that he accepted the apology. Geodude then hopped closer to Ash and, grimacing at how pale the man was, regretted his hasty actions; especially considering that they were in the middle of a snowstorm.

"Geodude, Geo, Dude, Geo, (I'm sorry… I was too hasty in my assessment of you, human. I can lead you to shelter if you'll follow me)" Geodude commented, sorrow lacing his words. Pikachu looked at Geodude and after a short conversation to see if Geodude really meant what he said Pikachu turned to Ash and told him about Geodude's offer.

"Cool… let's take it, buddy," Ash commented and slowly got to his feet, wincing at the pain that he was feeling from Geodude's punch and the storm that now had ice lashing at him instead of snow, motioned to Geodude to lead the way. Geodude began moving forward, with Ash and Pikachu following, the latter watching his trainer's face warily in case pain overtook it again.

A couple of minutes later Geodude stopped in front of a cave entrance that was blocked with a doorway made of snow. Motioning with his head Geodude began to dig at the snow, Pikachu soon joining in to help. After a few minutes the snow had been cleared away enough for a small opening to appear and Ash dropped to his knees and crawled through the entrance, Pikachu and Geodude both following with the rock and ground Pokémon refilling the hole that had been made.

Once inside the cave both Ash and Pikachu noticed that there was an orange light around a corner that lay maybe 5 feet away from him. Both could hear voices that sounded familiar but both were unable to place them as the storm and for Ash Geodude's punch had taken away much of their energy. Ash got to his feet and staggered forward, taking care to place his left hand on the cave's wall to balance himself, Geodude having once more taken the lead with Pikachu in tow.

As Ash and company rounded the corner he was met with a sudden silence that unnerved him and as he looked up he saw why. In front of the Pokémon master sat a group of around fifteen people and at least fifty Pokémon of varying sizes, all of whom staring at him with wide eyes.

Ash's eyes quickly scanned the group, landing on a woman who had auburn hair in a low ponytail slung over her right shoulder and sea-blue eyes that were widened in disbelief at what she was seeing.

"Misty? Misty is that you?" Ash croaked and as he finished speaking he fell to his knees once again and blacked out, Pikachu running over to his trainer and nudging him with his nose while Geodude looked on, worry plastered on his usually stoic face.

**_9:45 PM, December 24, 2006; Five miles from Mahogany Town, near the Lake of Rage, Johto Region_**

As Ash collapsed Misty felt the person next to her shift and make his way over to the fallen Pokémon master and pressing his fingers on Ash's wrist cursed. "He's freezing; I think he might be going into mild shock. Ritchie, Brendan, and Drew; I need you three to come and help me out here with him; we need to move him closer to the fire. May, Casey, Duplica, and Melody; I need you four to get all of the extra blankets and pillows we have and prepare a makeshift bed. The rest of you fill anything and everything we have with hot water to try and bring his body temperature back up to normal. Move!" Everyone nodded and went to work, with Ritchie, Brendan, and Drew coming over to the man's side and, when they saw the makeshift bed was ready helped lift Ash and bring him over to the pile of blankets and pillows slowly, gently laying him down so that he was as comfortable as they were able to make him.

Brock and Tracey soon came over with their arms full of bottles and plastic bags wrapped in pieces of rags and placed them all around Ash, doing their best to warm up the freezing man. The man who had taken charge then brought over his own black and blue checkered blanket and draped it over Ash, making sure to keep his feet and arms covered. Pikachu made his way over to his trainer and, ears drooping lay beside Ash, looking at the circle of humans with thanks in its black eyes.

The man nodded at Pikachu and made his way back to Misty, who hadn't taken her eyes off Ash since he had said her name. Noticing Misty's reaction to Ash the man frowned and, draping an arm over Misty's shoulder, said, "Mist, what's up?"

Misty blinked and, looking at the man beside her shot him a weak smile and replied, "It's nothing… it's just that I never expected to see him again… I mean, after what he did to me last year…" Misty whispered the last part and leaned into the man, placing her head onto his shoulder. After a few minutes she continued, "What do I say to him, Gary? It's been a whole year since I last saw him and the last time that I saw him it wasn't a pleasant experience."

The man now identified as Gary breathed out slowly, trying to calm the shot of jealousy that sprang to his mind when he heard Misty's words. He had thought that she was over what Ash did to her last year; correction, that she was over Ash completely and that if she saw him again she'd be okay. However, after hearing Misty's words just now he knew that he had been wrong. Reflecting upon the previous year's events he realized that Misty had been over the event but when she had seen Ash again it had all come rushing back to her; the betrayal, the hurt, the shock, and the breaking of her heart. Gary opened his eyes and noticed everyone looking at him from the corner of their eyes, wondering just what he was going to do.

"Hey, the twerp's waking up," a voice rang out from Gary's left and Gary looked for the source and found Jessie of Team Rocket, whose blue eyes were focused on the blanket-covered man. Soon enough Ash groaned and, blinking sat up, the blanket falling into his lap as a snow-covered black jacket came into view. Gary winced; there was no way that he could use his blanket now as it was dripping wet; if he used it he was likely to get sick and he really didn't want to get cold on Christmas.

Ash looked around and before he could comment Pikachu leaped onto Ash's shoulder and nuzzled his trainer on the cheek, saying how glad he was that his trainer was okay. Ash reached up a hand and scratched the Pikachu behind his ears, eliciting a happy growl from the Pokémon. Ash's black eyes then roved the room and when they landed on Misty he frowned and opened his mouth to say something when a voice interrupted and asked, "What in the hell were you doing out there in this weather, twerp?"

Ash's eye twitched; he hated that nickname and anyone who called him that deserved to get hurt. Ash turned his glare to the four people who were to the left of Misty and his eyes widened on seeing who they were. In front of him were the four members of Team Rocket whom he had faced numerous times over the years; James and Jessie in their white uniforms and Butch and Cassidy in their black uniforms, all four with blankets around them with their Pokémon sitting close to them. Grinning evilly Ash responded, "Well, well, well. If it isn't the losers from Team Socket… or was that Team Pocket? Anyway, all I see are four losers who have no business here." Ash's voice turned icy as he finished his taunting and if he had looked around the circle he would have seen the shock that now plastered the faces of his friends, who in all of the time they had known him had never heard him speak like that.

James and Butch looked over at each other and, mentally communicating, frowned and grabbed hold of their partner's arms to keep them from pouncing on the Pokémon trainer. Butch sighed and, making sure to keep a tight hold on Cassidy, opened his mouth to comment on Ash's words when Meowth beat him to it.

Meowth stood up and marched towards Ash, face set into an evil expression, and said, "What in da hell gives you da right to insult us like that, huh? We ain't doin' anything wrong; we're here ta celebrate Christmas like everyone else here. Ain't that right?" Meowth felt relief at seeing everyone in the circle, Pokémon included, nod their heads in agreement.

Ash frowned and said, "If that's true, Meowth, then how come you guys have your Pokémon out, huh? Are you planning on stealing everyone else's Pokémon when we're sleeping and sneak away into the snowstorm raging outside?"

This time James and Butch couldn't stay neutral; they didn't even need to look at each other or their partners to know that Ash was on the road to getting a serious beating from Jessie and Cassidy and if they were completely honest with themselves they wouldn't hesitate to join in the act. Butch frowned and opened his mouth once more to make a comeback at Ash but was cut off again, this time it was Cassidy who interrupted him. Cassidy wrenched her arms out of Butch's grasp and, getting to her feet, marched over to Ash and slapped him across the face, everyone watching in utter and complete shock.

Ash slowly swung his eyes back to Cassidy's garnet ones and for a minute all they did was glare at each other. Ash then spoke softly and slowly, "What the hell did you do that for? I was only pointing out the truth that you failed to tell everyone else when they let you stay in this cave out of the goodness of their hearts."

Cassidy seethed; how dare this twerp call her a liar? "For your information, twerp," Cassidy said, ignoring the eye twitch that Ash was unconsciously doing at the moment, "Butch, Jessie, James, and I were here first and when we heard voices outside we investigated and found everyone else looking for shelter. We let them in and told them that they could stay here with us until the storm clears up. If we hadn't been here you would have most likely died of hypothermia or something else like that so you had better be grateful!" Cassidy shot one last glare at Ash and went back to where the three aforementioned people were and, sitting back down, draped her blanket over her shoulders once more, her purple-eyed Houndoom padding over and laying her head in Cassidy's lap.

James and Jessie, the latter of whom was wrapped in the arms of the former, flicked their eyes over to their two former rivals; all four had agreed to work together and not be enemies anymore. The last part was fine with James and Butch but Jessie and Cassidy still had some issues to hammer out in the future. James nudged Jessie and when she looked up at him with confusion in her eyes he motioned with his head to their two companions. When Jessie saw what was happening she grinned and on seeing Butch cast her and James a worried look nodded yes in answer to his unspoken question.

While this had been taking place Cassidy had wrapped the blanket closer, hoping to draw warmth from its folds. Therefore, she was caught off guard when she felt a pair of arms encircle her and bring her closer to their owner. Cassidy looked behind her and her eyes widened when she saw that Butch had been the one to draw her closer to him and was trying to not look at her. Cassidy smiled and leaned back in Butch's embrace, causing Butch's own hazel eyes to widen in shock. He decided to not question what was happening and so, along with Cassidy, turned his eyes to watching the tension that was enveloping the cave with interest.

Ash glared at the four members of Team Rocket in fury; how dare they outright lie to him?! He admitted to himself shamefully that in the past he had been tricked by the numerous lies that Team Rocket had fed him but now he wasn't going to fall for the same trick. Ignoring Pikachu's protests Ash got to his feet and shook off the blanket and his black jacket, drips of snow and water flying everywhere. His black eyes then looked around the circle and on finding the person they sought he walked over to her.

Gary watched his friend approaching with apprehension; just what was Ash up to, choosing to expose himself to the cold air in the cave instead of trying to keep warm? He soon found out when Ash knelt in front of Misty and, reaching out a hand asked, "Hey, Misty, can we talk?"

Misty froze; she didn't know how to reply to Ash's question. She had thought that she had been over Ash's actions the previous year but when she had seen a pale Ash she had been scared into shock. For him to just show up like that, much less be led to the exact cave where she and her friends were trying to keep warm… just what were the odds?

Ash looked into Misty's face and on seeing no reaction opened his mouth to try again when he felt a hand grasp him by the shoulder and yank him backwards. Ash ripped himself from the other person's grip and whirled around to see who had grabbed him to prevent him from talking to the one woman in his life who mattered and paled. Brock Slate was glaring down at him from narrowed eyes.

"Just what are you doing, Ash?" Brock asked and as Ash watched he saw Ritchie, Tracey, Brendan, and Drew join Brock, all of them glaring at the resident Pokémon master.

Ash got to his feet and glared right back at Brock, who was at least four inches taller than the raven-haired man. "What do you mean what am I doing?! I'm trying to talk to my fiancée!" Ash staggered as he felt a blow to his back, catching himself just before he would have hit Brock. Ash spun around and found himself looking into the simmering eyes of Pokémon that he instantly recognized as Misty's personal team, which in total counted about six. He was also dimly aware of Gary's Pokémon and pretty much every other Pokémon out of their Pokéballs either glaring at him or preparing to get to their feet.

Togetic led the small group, his black eyes glaring into Ash's own black ones with anger in their depths. Ash assumed that Togetic had been the one to tackle him as if the other Pokémon had tackled him then he wouldn't have been able to catch himself in time and would have probably ended up getting hurt pretty badly. Ash found himself taking a step backwards to try and escape the glares of not only Togetic but also those of Misty's Vaporeon, the bright yellow scar that adorned her left eye glowing brightly in the dim lighting; Gyarados, her dark red eyes resembled flames and her sky blue scales and white chest armor glowing dimly in the light afforded by the fire in the middle of the circle of people; Starmie, whose yellow gem was glowing brightly, showing the extent to which it was upset; Swampert, whose coal black eyes were staring venomously into Ash's own, ready to defend Misty if the need should arise; and Blastoise, whose eyes were staring into Ash's own with a hatred that Ash had never seen present before in the turtle Pokémon's eyes.

Ash took one more step backwards to put some distance between himself and the six Pokémon and ended up tripping over his own feet, landing on the ground where he found himself looking up into Misty's Pokémon's eyes, fear in his own.

"Why are you guys staring at me like that? I didn't do anything wrong!" Ash said, his voice sounding more confident than what he really felt. The Pokémon and the trainers in the circle shot quick glances at each other, each communicating the one question that had appeared on everyone else's mind at Ash's comment—_He doesn't remember?!_

"The reason, Ash, is because of what you did last year at this time," Tracey commented slowly, moving so that he was kneeling between Ash and Misty's enraged Pokémon. Ash blinked, wondering what Tracey was talking about but swore when after a few minutes he remembered exactly what Tracey was referring to.

"Look, Tracey… guys… Misty. That wasn't my fault. That bitch forced herself on me after drugging my drink; I had no control over my actions. It was almost like I was under a trance!" Ash proclaimed, getting to his feet and putting up his hands in front of him in defense. Tracey surveyed him with narrowed eyes, wondering if Ash was telling the truth. He opened his mouth to say something when he was pushed out of the way by his girlfriend Melody.

Ash cringed; he remembered Melody's short temper and had a feeling that he was in for it now… and boy was he right. "If that's so, Ash, then why didn't you contact Misty before now and tell her what happened, huh?! Were you that ashamed of what you had allowed to happen or were you secretly glad that you had a new plaything and decided that Misty, your best friend and fiancée wasn't worth your time? Well, which is it?!" Melody demanded, going so far as to get into Ash's face, her eyes boring into Ash's. They stayed this way for a minute, with no one else moving a muscle, and Melody opened her mouth to comment again when she felt herself being pulled aside. Glancing up she saw Tracey's dark brown eyes look at her briefly then shift their gaze over to the far wall where Misty's Pokémon were gathered in front of their trainer, as if protecting her from Ash's brutal stare.

Melody watched the sparks spring up between Gary and Ash's eyes and winced, almost as if she had just been burned by a stray flicker. The staring contest continued for at least five minutes, with Pikachu and Gary's Umbreon switching their gazes back and forth from one trainer to the other, each wondering who would lose the contest first. What they didn't expect; actually, what no one expected was Misty to get to her feet and plant herself between Ash and Gary, causing everyone present to stare at her, some personally wondering if she had lost it.

"You both need to stop this stupid staring contest! You're both acting like you're five years old and not twenty-two!" Misty declared, her eyes burning with anger. Gary and Ash shot one more glare at each other and then turned their eyes away, both desperately trying to not look at each other, much less an angry Misty.

Misty sighed and, putting a hand to her forehead, thought, 'Shit, now what do I do? I have to take care of this little spat before it evolves into something bigger… ah hell, who am I kidding? This is already beyond a spat; it's a fucking war!'

After a few minutes in which only the sounds of people and Pokémon alike shifting positions to get more comfortable was heard Misty sighed and, opening her eyes, focused her gaze on Ash. "Ash… can I talk to you in private?"

Ash's head spun around so quickly one would have thought that it was on a wheel. "Sure, Misty. Umm… where do you want to talk?" Ash smiled at Misty but noticed that she wasn't looking at him at the moment. She was talking to her Pokémon, whispering something to them which, no matter how hard Ash tried to was unable to catch even a snippet of the conversation.

Gary shook his head to make sure that he had just heard right: Misty, the girl of his dreams wanted to talk to Ash… _alone?!_ Something just didn't seem right and Gary for one wanted to find out what was going on. Gary scrambled to his feet and, placing himself between Misty and Ash hissed, "Misty isn't going anywhere with you, Ashy-boy! You fucking abandoned her last year when you knew that you held her heart in your hands! Then you don't even contact her until now; what the hell is wrong with you?!" Gary's sapphire eyes were burning with anger and outrage at what Misty wanted to do.

Misty groaned and, placing a hand on Gary's shoulder, forced him to look at her. "Gary, it's ok. Don't worry about it, alright? I'm a big girl and I can handle myself."

Gary looked at her, uncertainty creeping onto his face as he replied, "But Mist…"

Misty interrupted him by placing a finger over his mouth and shaking her head no. "I'll be fine, Gary. I can handle it; after all, you're the one I want, got it?" She winked at him and moved off into the distance where a small waterfall was cascading into a small reflection pool which, according to Duplica's measurements from earlier that night was about twenty feet away from the main circle. Ash shot a small glare at Gary then ran after Misty, leaving a perplexed Gary standing where Misty left him. He watched his girl move away and while half-listening to reassurances from Duplica, Casey, Melody, and May that Misty wasn't going to leave him sunk to his knees, petting his Arcanine's head as the fire dog came over to comfort his trainer, knowing that Misty had most likely told her Pokémon to make sure that Gary didn't follow her and Ash. Gary zoned out of the normal world and while everyone around him whispered and wondered just what was going down between Ash and Misty he stared resolutely ahead, determined to prepare himself for the worst.

**_10:45 PM, December 24, 2006; Five miles from Mahogany Town, near the Lake of Rage, Johto Region_**

After a few minutes Misty reached the reflection pool and reaching out a hand let the water fall over it, noting that the water was strangely warm for the middle of December. When she heard Ash arrive she didn't turn around, choosing to keep her attention focused on the water in front of her. After a minute had passed Ash cleared his throat hoping to get Misty's attention, alerting her to the fact that he was uncomfortable with the silence.

Misty turned around and, wrapping her arms around her looked at Ash and opened her mouth to begin talking when Ash suddenly pounced at her and pushed her against a slab of the stone wall that was to the right of the waterfall. Misty gasped but was cut off when Ash pressed his lips against hers; obviously wanting to communicate to her in his actions how much he had missed her and how much he loved her. Misty tolerated this for about twenty seconds before pushing Ash off her with as much force as she could muster.

"Mist, what's wrong?" Ash asked genuine confusion present in his voice.

Misty looked at him and replied with as much venom as she could muster, "Ash… did it ever occur to you that I've moved on?!"

Ash tilted his head and said, "Moved on? But Misty, you can't do that… I mean, we're engaged… aren't we?"

Misty looked at Ash for a minute before frowning and moving closer to him said, "Ash, listen to me. After I caught you with that whore," and put a hand up to ensure that Ash wouldn't interrupt her, "and yes I understand that she drugged you but honestly Ash. If something like that had happened to me I wouldn't have abandoned by fiancé to some random person then not contact said person for a year but unfortunately for you that's what you did, Ash. That night, when you left me with Gary, I realized that you didn't really love me… if you had, Ash Ketchum, then you wouldn't have left me in the arms of your supposed best friend from Pallet Town and gone off to do something else! I was able to talk to Gary and even though I never really talked to him before that night we clicked… it was like something was lit between us and with every word we said the fire got brighter and brighter. Honestly Ash I felt more in tune with Gary in that mere span of a few hours than I ever did with you during the whole time we dated and were then engaged."

Misty noted out of the corner of her eye how depressed Ash was getting but not wanting to get interrupted she continued, "So I made a decision that night… I took off your engagement ring. Ash, I waited for you to call for over a month, expecting you to at least apologize and ask us to be friends but you never called… when I was crying my eyes out Gary was there for me. He comforted me and made me feel like I was worth something… we began dating." Here Misty's voice got a bit softer, as if a memory worth remembering for a lifetime was at the forefront of her mind and Ash took note of a shy smile that graced her lips; a smile that he had never seen on her before. Damn that Oak for getting her to smile in a way that he, Ash Ketchum, the guy whom she had known for over a decade, had never gotten out of her!

"Then, a month ago Gary proposed to me and I accepted; Ash, Gary and I are engaged to be married in June." Misty then brought up her left hand and Ash's jaw dropped when he saw an engagement ring with a diamond surrounded by a sapphire and a garnet. Misty noted his look and smiled at the ring, subconsciously admiring the way the water played off the sparkle the gems gave off. She then looked at Ash and continued, "Ash, you've been missing an entire year; your mother was worried sick and even Gary was worried. God, Ash, everyone out there missed you; we all thought that you had been kidnapped or killed or something horrible; hell, even Team Rocket missed their 'twerp'. You honestly didn't expect me to wait for you until you came back, did you?"

Ash looked away and, taking the silence to speak said, "Misty… I know I hurt you but you have to understand… I wasn't myself this past year. It was like I had lost my identity somewhere and even though I looked everywhere for it I couldn't find it. I finally realized that what was missing were the people who cared about me and those whom I cared about… but I was so ashamed of my actions that I didn't get into contact with you until now. I am so sorry… I know that what I did wasn't fair to you but I hope you can forgive me and we can be friends again."

Misty looked at Ash, searching for a sign that he was being insincere. On finding none she stepped forward and placing a hand on Ash's shoulder said, "Of course we can be friends, Ash. Just… nothing more than that; after all, I am happily engaged." She smiled gently at him and noting his downcast expression placed a small kiss on his cheek then walked back to the campfire, eager to snuggle up to Gary and get warm.

Ash watched her go with a sad smile on his face and as he followed her said, "Gary is damn lucky… he got what I let go and now I'm most likely going to regret my actions for the rest of my life…"

_**11:00 PM, December 24, 2006; Five miles from Mahogany Town, near the Lake of Rage, Johto Region**_

When Misty entered the campfire area again she was assaulted by questions from the females of the group, with Jessie and Cassidy even piping in with their own questions. Misty promised to answer them later but her attention was drawn instantly to her fiancé, who was absentmindedly petting Arcanine and looking at the entrance to the cave with a glazed-over expression. Misty walked over to him and kneeling in front of him put a hand on Gary's cheek, wincing at how her cold hand and his warm face caused a tingling sensation to erupt.

Gary turned his gaze to her and, eyes becoming clear of the glazed expression they had held a moment ago asked, "So… what happened? Is everything okay?"

Misty turned away for a minute, looking to all the world like nothing was okay at the time. Gary's eyes widened; the first thought that came to his mind was that Misty had chosen Ash over him and that he had lost her. After a minute Misty turned her eyes back to meet Gary's own and he saw mischief in their depths but most of all love for only one person… him. Grinning widely Gary pulled Misty onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her whispered, "God, Mist, don't do that to me again, okay? You are the most important person in the world to me and I don't know what I'd do without you."

Misty's eyes widened; she knew Gary loved her and she him but she hadn't known how deeply his feelings ran. Pulling herself out of his embrace so that she was looking at him directly she said, "You'll never lose me Gary because I'm here to stay." She then leaned forward and laid a kiss on his lips, his hands reaching up to take her face and make sure that he isn't dreaming; that his fiancée, the woman he loved, had chosen him over her ex without any persuasion from him and of her own free will.

Ash watched this scene from his newly found seat near James and Jessie and as he watched them Pikachu climbed to his customary perch on Ash's shoulder, sitting there and making sure to try and keep the back of Ash's neck warm.

"Hey… twerp," Jessie said, drawing Ash's eyes to her. Jessie looked at him and, to Ash's complete and utter surprise said, "Merry Christmas… and don't worry. The gal for you is out there somewhere… who knows; maybe you've already met her." Jessie's sapphire eyes told him that she's trying to be polite to try and diffuse the situation from earlier that evening and when Ash saw this he nodded.

"Thanks… Jessie. You too," Ash replied, his voice not as confident as it usually would be under normal circumstances. He watched the couples form around the circle and saw with a small smile that May is in between Brendan and Drew, both of whom are trying to get her to pay more attention to himself and not the other. He then watched Gary and Misty, both of whom seemed to have found comfortable positions—Gary had Misty's blanket draped around his shoulders and was using it to cover both himself and Misty, the latter of whom had her back to Gary's chest, leaning into the warmth, their hands intertwined. Ash sighed and after a few minutes he turned and began a half-civil conversation with James and Butch, both of whom seemed saner than their female counterparts.

_**11:59 PM, December 24, 2006; Five miles from Mahogany Town, near the Lake of Rage, Johto Region**_

Time passed and soon Gary and Misty were the only ones still awake. As they stared into the glowing embers of the fire Misty turned so that she was facing Gary and said, "Some storm, huh?"

Gary looked down at the woman wrapped in his arms and, grinning, replied, "Of course. Our holiday storm was a blessing in disguise; it brought my best friend back to me but most of all it sealed our engagement and love for each other."

Misty mock-glared and replied, "Gary… that was way too corny."

Gary shrugged and, smirking, replied, "True, but all there is left to say is this: I love you Misty Waterflower; Merry Christmas now and Merry Christmas for years to come." He then leaned down and captured Misty's lips one more time as they drifted off to sleep, Gary's Pokégear marking the dawn of Christmas morning where in a small cave in the Johto Region absolute peace reigned supreme.


End file.
